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Competence and delay of metamorphosis in the Pacific oysterCrassostrea gigas

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Abstract

The temporal relationship between the onset of behavioral and morphogenetic competence was determined inCrassostrea gigas (Thunberg) larvae by exposure to appropriate chemical inducers during development. Larvae exhibited settlement behavior in response to L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) before becoming competent to metamorphose in response to epinephrine. For larvae past the onset of competence, the apparent stimulus-threshold decreased and they were increasingly likely to metamorphose subsequent to induced settlement behavior. In the absence of chemical stimulation, cultured oyster larvae were able to delay metamorphosisand maintain competence for at least 30 d. Competence was correlated with, but not dependent upon, larval size and eyespot development. A mechanistic model of oyster settlement and metamorphosis is proposed which incorporates these new data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Maryland College Park, 20742, Maryland, USA

    S. L. Coon, W. K. Fitt & D. B. Bonar

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Georgia Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    W. K. Fitt

  3. Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland, 600 E. Lombard Street, 21202, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    D. B. Bonar

Authors
  1. S. L. Coon
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  2. W. K. Fitt
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  3. D. B. Bonar
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Communicated by J. Grassle, Woods Hole

Contribution # 136 from the Center of Biotechnology, Marine Biotechnology Institute, University of Maryland

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Coon, S.L., Fitt, W.K. & Bonar, D.B. Competence and delay of metamorphosis in the Pacific oysterCrassostrea gigas . Mar. Biol. 106, 379–387 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01344316

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